1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic payment systems and more particularly, to systems for allowing the secure execution of business-to-business, business-to-bank and bank-to-bank transactions with real-time finality of transactions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic banking systems provide the convenience of transacting with banks or other financial institutions without the need to have some form of physical access to the bank or one of its branch offices. In non-electronic banking, this physical access could be by having a customer travel to a bank or branch office in person, by physically mailing or otherwise delivering a payment instrument of some kind (e.g., a check) to the bank or branch office, or by some other physical manifestation of an intent to initiate a financial transaction with the bank holding an account for the customer. These physical, non-electronic transactions were once standard for interactions between a bank and its customers.
For transactions between banks or other financial institutions, there have been various electronic banking systems used in order to expedite the large-scale and high-volume transactions needed in order for banks to function effectively. However, such systems may not be available or effective for transactions between bank customers, even large commercial customers, and their banks.
In addition, many electronic banking systems impose delays or the requirement for one or more trusted intermediary financial institutions in order to provide effective resolution to electronic banking transactions. Such requirements introduce undesirable overhead into banking transactions.
Therefore, there is a continued need for improved systems and techniques for electronic banking in order to improve the speed and efficiency of electronic banking, particularly for commercial transactions.